Gran Festivall: Never again!! Stay away at all costs!

As soon as we arrived the problems with this resort started. We were asked for a 500 peso deposit for a lock for the safe in our room. Not such a big deal but when you have paid $4000+ dollars to stay there I found this very unnecessary. We were driven to our villa by the bus boy and that is where the positives ended. We were in a 2 bedroom villa with our 3 children. It was worn down moldy and just plain gross. Other people hair all over the villa, bugs everywhere, , only sheets on the bed no bl [... read more]ankets. We requested blankets at the front desk got towels as no staff at this resort speaks english. Upon arriving in our villa I attempted to use the toilet. It didn't flush neither did the one in the second bathroom. Turned on the taps and nothing... In went to the front desk to request a room change where I was told they were having problems with the water and it would be back on an hour. We then inquired if once the water came back if the water slides would be operational we were told they were under maintenance for an undetermined length of time as well as the zip line.Both looked like they had been closed for quite some time. These were the main reasons we booked this resort. An hour came and went and nothing we were then told it would be on by the end of the night and to go and enjoy dinner. This was a whole other experience. The outdoor buffet was so covered on ants it could have walked off on its own. Nothing was labeled in English which would be a big deal if the food was at all edible but it all looked like three day old leftovers combined to make new disgusting dishes. The service was good keep my beer full which is good because I needed them!! Me and my husband attended the night club that evening and had a good enough time dispite the to tolites being full of waste due to the no water issue. We the returned to our villa to sit on the patio only to watch all the other guests bring their garbage cans to the pool to bail out water for their rooms. The beds are tiny and rock hard would have been better to have slept on the floor which is where I ended up more then once after rolling out over the course of the night. In the morning still no water and no answers for the desk just another lie about when it would be back on. By this time other guests were literally bathing in the pool and using the waterfall at the kids pool as a shower!! We met with our sunwing rep that morning and were promised the water would be on by 4:00. That came and went without any change. By this time we were starting to wonder how they were washing dishes or food and even cooking it with any sort of sanitary measures. Around 4:30 we finally go the news that our sunwing rep was able to move us. Thank god if I had to stay minute longer at the living hell I think my whole family would have got ecoli or worse!! If you have stayed at this hotel in the past know that it in nowhere near where it used to be. We were even told by a fellow Canadian that he witnessed a very large rat swimming across the main pool and then it laid dead on the pool side for more then a hour after the staff was informed that it was there. We were loved to hotel call Tesoro and it was above and beyond anything we could have imaged. Your web sight gave it a 3+ rating and Grand festival a 3 rating. Festivall is 1 on its best day. Tesoro deserves at least a 4. It would be in your companies best interest to drop Gran Festivall as one of you options or I imagine you will be reading many more reviews like these.

Gran Festivall: Oh no!!

Although the food was the best we've had at any resort, a few things were off. If you're accustomed to a soft bed and soft pillows, this is not the place for you. No blankets, just sheets. No wash cloths either. Waiters don't come around to take orders around the pool. Cockroach in our room. A rat in the pool, mouse droppings on the window sill. Mice could be heard in A/C units. Raccoons running around on the grounds. Water pipe broke the day before we left, no flushing toilets, no showers... th [... read more]at really sucked. Water slides were broken. Definitely need to get softer beds and pillows, also need décor in villas.

Gran Festivall: Gran Festivall

The available activities is were this resort shines. The staff were great but it is a locals resort or most staff didn't speak English. The rooms were cute but not kept up. I'm actually ok with chipped paint and tiles(just adds to the Mexican feel) But we had mold growing in one of the closets and there were stains on the sheets and a hole in one of the pillow cases. The stairwell was tight also. It was nice having a kitchen though. We had a night without air conditioning and a couple da [... read more]ys with cold showers. The beds are very hard and small...I think we had a double. It looks like they are doing some major repairs but that meant there was only one main dinning room avaiable and 5hrs between 7am-10pm were there was no food available at all. No food was available between 11am-1pm and 4pm-7pm. We don't drink. I usually have lime water but occasionally enjoy the odd juice which was not available. The food was pretty good but there was poor rotations of food. I had plans on eating guacamole everyday(not an unreasonable expectation in Mexico) but it wasn't served once. Not even on Mexican night...I had to buy my owe avocados from the local market. The fish was always mushy or over cooked. There pulled chicken and beef were amazing though. There were no snack bar which they said there were. The grounds were very well groomed and clean. And so were the pools. The staff were helpful and pleasant. There were several staff that got extra tips for exceptional service. It was hard to fully enjoy the entertainment as everything was in Spanish but the dancers were impressive. Some shows were not very family friendly and it was very much a family resort. We loved the area and hope to visit it again. We always felt safe. The sunwing guide was very helpful with navigating the area and great suggestion. This resort has potential but not there yet. We had a good time but felt it was a bit over priced for what we got. We were talking to another couple who has the same room size we did and they paid $225 less than we did per person so we will be shopping around more next time.

Gran Festivall: Seen better days... suggest a 2 star rating

I was at this resort several years ago when it was under the Club Maeva name. I was hoping that what had been a great resort had been preserved and even built upon. What we encountered was a facility in decline, with many cosmetic and functional problems (no air conditioning, dirty rooms, taps that did not work, burned out lights, rust and general shabbiness. We were required to change rooms towards the end of our trip as they claimed they were doing some maintenance. We ended up quite far from  [... read more]all amenities in a very small room with equally shabby features. Although this may sound a bit petty, two of the things that made this trip particularly difficult for us were biting insects in the room ( we were covered with bites) and perhaps the worst bed I have ever encountered, anywhere, ever. It was one notch above concrete. We had to purchase an egg crate foam from a local Walmart to make the bed remotely comfortable. On the plus side,, the pools are excellent, the grounds are well maintained and the food was fairly good. The demographics of the clientele has changed considerably: On weekends, the place is packed (1600 people) but when we were there, only 16 of us were non Mexican. This is of course not a big issue, however English is not as commonly used in organized activities, or on the part of activity announcers. Mid-week when numbers decline considerably, , dining and bar facilities are confined to only one outlet, so lines could get long. For those not familiar with the resort, the beach is a bit of a walk, and lies across the highway. There is a great path and bridge to get there, but it is not a "beachfront" resort. We Canadians tended to hang together and there was a most disturbing incident where there was an attempted sexual assault on one of the Canadian women on the beach in broad daylight. This is a terrible occurrence and I do believe it to be non-typical, but it did occur and this thoroughly tainted the trip for us. This occurred just adjacent to the resort beach area (within 100 feet) and did NOT involve Gran Festival staff, but a waiter at an adjacent restaurant. If you are a young family on a budget in need of a resort with lots of family-oriented facilities, then this place is fine, but if you are looking for a comfortable get-away, I would look a star or two higher.

Gran Festivall: Very Average

It was an interesting surprise to see all the other guests were from Mexico with the exception of a handful of Canadians. Almost none of the staff spoke any English at all so just be prepared with some basic Spanish.

Gran Festivall: crumbling resort

At one time this was an amazing resort. I suspect there has been little to no maintenance since it was built. Large cracks in the pools, room full of mold and children play area/daycare is unsafe -broken equipment and live electrical outlet at the base of a tree in the outdoor playground. The most unsafe part of this resort is the walking bridge to the beach -supports are almost completely rotted through and the concrete has completely fractured through at the top of the bridge

Gran Festivall: Wonderful resort

The resort met all of our expectations and more. The rooms were very clean and spacious. Nightly entertainment was excellent despite being mostly in Spanish. Not all the restaurants were always open but those that were served adequate food. The grounds were very clean and well kept. One of the best features we appreciated was the friendliness of all the staff. All except the front desk staff went out of their way to make our stay enjoyable.

Gran Festivall: Low Expectations

I went to Gran Festival with my 5-year old son, with little expectations, which were met. Although there are a lot of activities available, most are in need of repair/maintenance, however the service/staff was very good. Two points in particular were very annoying, i) our room was too close to the disco, which music was far too loud ii) although they advertise Wi-Fi, it's virtually non-existent. I'd rate the value very low since I'd paid a 4-star price for 2-3 star resort, but the price is refl [... read more]ective of the season, (Christmas Holidays).